IBM i Trends in Modernization for 2017
2016 was a blur of airports and hotels for me as I flew almost 200,000 miles in order to visit with hundreds of IBM i professionals all over the world.
One of the hottest trends for IBM i shops is exposing existing IBM i application functions as web services. Many companies I have spoken with want to leverage the rich capabilities they have already built into their core IBM i applications by making them available through web browsers, to mobile devices or to applications belonging to business partners or customers. Rather than rewriting those functions, they are simply building a service wrapper around them. Those services can then be consumed in a way that makes sense for the mobile or web user experience. They also can be used as connectors that allow disparate applications to talk to each other.
How SD-WAN (Software Defined-Wide Area Network) will make waves in 2017
We get it now. The cloud is a thing. It’s a great thing and it’s revolutionizing everything from how we do business, to how we listen to music, even to how we heat our homes, but there comes a point when the analogies and the ability to extol its benefits dries up.
The beauty of technology though is that it never stands still, and just as the drought sets in, along comes something new and exciting to explore. SD-WAN or Software Defined-Wide Area Network is the latest innovation to disrupt proceedings and help deliver the benefits of cloud. It’s not just another acronym to add to the collection either. Although deployed by only around 1 percent of businesses worldwide, American marketing research firm Gartner predicted last year that by the end of 2019, an astonishing 30 percent of enterprises will deploy SD-WAN technology in their branches. So, what is it?
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Robots could take over almost 250,000 jobs in the next two decades
The everlasting debate over whether robots will take our jobs or not continues. London-based think tank Reform weighted in, and most humans aren't going to like it.
It recently said that almost 250,000 jobs in the public sector could be replaced by robots in the next two decades. This will mean billions of pounds in savings for businesses and organizations, but also a loss of steady jobs for many people.
Due diligence is vital when buying a business
Technology companies are in a dynamic sector. You may want to expand your business through acquisition, or you may want to sell your company. In either situation you need to go about the process in systematic way which means becoming familiar with due diligence.
When you are excited about buying a business (or selling one) you can easily miss important steps that will help establish if you are making a good decision. Due diligence is a process to help achieve a deal. It uses checklists and also relies on combining these with good business sense: without due diligence you could make a deal you regret. It’s my view, after many years of experience, that not enough people undertake proper due diligence.
UMi Plus E: An affordable smartphone with premium aspirations [Review]
Smartphones have replaced tablets and traditional computers for millions of users as the preferred -- and often only -- way to access the internet.
While the initial waves of devices were nothing more than souped-up feature phones, the past couple of years have seen the arrival of models that are not only far more sophisticated but also significantly more powerful than their predecessors.
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WhatsApp's security flaw has legal implications
Earlier this month there was widespread reporting in both the tech and mainstream media of the discovery of a potential security vulnerability in Facebook's WhatsApp messaging service. Coverage of the likely flaw, which was reportedly discovered by researchers at Berkeley University in California, was a blow to Facebook given that WhatsApp places privacy and security at the heart of its service by providing end-to-end encryption of user's messages and photos, preventing third parties including its own staff from accessing them.
In a nutshell the potential security flaw would theoretically allow WhatsApp to intercept some users' messages, which would appear to them to be encrypted. This has resulted in considerable speculation that government agencies could exploit this vulnerability as a means of covert surveillance, by targeting specific individuals' messages or on a bulk extraction basis.
Most banks aren't confident they can detect a data breach
Consumers are quite confident banks and insurers can keep their data safe, but these organizations aren’t that sure. A new report by Capgemini has shown that financial institutions lack a significant amount of confidence when it comes to data protection.
Just one in five (21 percent) of financial service organizations admitted they’re "highly confident" they could detect a data breach. On the other hand, 83 percent of consumers trust banks and insurers with their data.
Replicating the success of your favorite apps
In today’s digital age, many entrepreneurs spend a lot of their time thinking about how they can develop a startup that becomes the next great tech innovation story. If the measure of success is to be mentioned in the same breath as Netflix, Uber and Dropbox, it’s important to take a closer look at the things these companies have done right over the years.
While Reed Hastings, Travis Kalanick and Drew Houston have made a lot of correct choices over the course of their journey to reach the pinnacle of startup success, many of these strategic decisions have centered around their company’s mobile app.
DAS could solve 5G indoor coverage problems
According to an often quoted stat from the analyst group Informa, approximately 80 percent of mobile phone calls are now made from inside a building. As the UK increasingly moves towards being a nation of urban dwellers, this figure is perhaps not surprising -- and indeed, factoring in the continuous increase in the use of mobile devices in the workplace -- research from Aruba HPE found that 60 percent of employees link mobile technology with the ability to be productive at work -- it could well be set to go even higher.
In the face of such statistics the assumption might be that the UK would boast strong indoor coverage, however a report by communications regulator Ofcom last year found quite the opposite. In-fact, according to Ofcom over half of the UK population had reported issues with voice and data services when making calls indoors.
Server downtime: What are the costs?
Server downtime -- it happens. Most large companies have at least once experienced the frustration that is having their servers down, whether it’s for a few minutes, hours or even days. It’s regarded as a part of life, something that happens that you can’t quite prevent, but in fact, server downtime costs companies millions of dollars yearly, either in lost business or in the distraction and psychological toll it takes on employees who have to deal with the problem.
But actually, these can be prevented by avoiding common server issues, implementing agile working practices and creating a plan should emergencies happen.
Artificial intelligence in retail: It's the right move
Technology has long since advanced to the point where it can make decisions better than people can, and yet grocery managers are still happy to use their own experience to drive decision-making, sacrificing speed, efficiency and savings.
By optimizing key strategic areas of pricing and replenishment, and automating decisions using machine learning, retailers can combine the speed of their decisions with their KPIs (margins, volumes, mark downs). Yet still retailers are not currently marrying the two in a responsive and effective way.
Why you should embrace AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) will destroy jobs, robots will replace humans… We are no stranger to these talks about the evolution of AI and the rise of robots. Some go as far as predicting that one in three jobs will be replaced by robots in the next 20 years (including clerical jobs), while others preach that sophisticated software in tiny gadgets that will end up affecting our self-worthy and identity.
In the meantime, studies show otherwise, and all this automation anxiety is simply overblown. The only thing professionals should be afraid of is becoming obsolete by missing the chance of turning this technology to their advantage.
Dropbox introduces Smart Sync and Paper
Dropbox has announced "significant product updates", introducing Smart Sync (some of you might know it as Dropbox Infinite), and Paper.
The company says the introduction of Smart Sync and Paper will boost team productivity and improve collaborative processes, end-to-end. First up is the Smart Sync. Dropbox calls it an "industry first", cross-platform, on-demand cloud storage solution. It offers intuitive storage, allowing users to sync all the content from their computers to their Dropbox accounts.
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